Leprechaun catching- St. Patricks Day 2014

Dia Duit friends! You may or may not know that I’m Irish. But in honour of St. Patricks Day tomorrow, I want to tell you all of a tradition we have here. If you’re Irish, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have Irish ancestors, you can also join in. (because honestly, who doesn’t have Irish relatives).

Every year, as a nation, we go ‘leprechaun catching’. Now, I’m not too certain of the history of this sport, but it has something to do with the time St. Patrick came to Ireland and banished all the snakes. It seemed the snakes and the leprechauns had a partner ship which meant that they were allies. However, the Elder Leprechaun betrayed the snakes and told St. Patrick where the snakes were. As punishment for tattling on them, leprechauns were cursed by the snake leader. This curse meant that they could only come out once a year- St. Patricks day. And on this day, each Irish person has the right to defend their families from being deceived, by capturing the leprechauns.
So now that you have the back story. Here’s how it works 🙂 Enjoy!

1. On March 16th, each family leaves a fresh potato outside their front door.
2. The next morning, if the potato is gone before 7am, it is evidence that a leprechaun wants to deceive that household.
3. Buy a rubber snake and cover it in Guinness. Place the wet snake in the middle of a nearby barley field. There must be shamrocks in that field- as evidence of leprechaun inhabitants.
4. Set up a net as a trap. By now, the leprechauns should have begun to sensed the Guinness and have appeared. To be extra effective, have some Daniel O Donnell music playing in the back ground.
5. As they approach the net, throw a potato in front of the snake. The leprechaun will now think of this as a peace offering and move towards it.
6. Release the net on top of the leprechaun and quickly chant the words “an will key ad a gum dull go dee on let tress”

Congratulations! You have now successfully captured a leprechaun and sold their soul to the snake leader! Don’t forget to collect your rainbow gold!